The Ferris wheel that has been installed in Loughborough town centre during the festive period.

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RESIDENTS have been left in a spin after an 85-year-old Ferris wheel was opened in the Market Place at the Christmas lights switch-on – when the public expected a 70ft Loughborough Eye.

In October, the Echo was told that a giant wheel named the Loughborough Eye would be placed in the Market Place, similar to the one that appeared at Granby Street during the Loughborough Fair.

And that the wheel would offer scenic views of the town similar to that of the Carillon.

But the Business Improvement District (BID) which operates through town centre business levies, says the wheel that appeared at Granby Street had already been hired to Hyde Park in London. And that two other big wheels had already been booked.

The BID board says it then turned its eye to hiring a Ferris wheel instead.

Hundreds of comments have been left on Facebook, expressing the public’s disappointment, calling the Ferris wheel “an eyesore”, “more an eyelash”, “absolutely pathetic” and “a joke”.

Love Loughborough had to remove one of its Facebook posts advertising the Ferris wheel after it was bombarded with ill feeling. The manager of the Business Improvement District (BID) and Love Loughborough, Jonathan Hale, who helped bring the Ferris wheel to town, has apologised to the public if they felt misled about the size of the wheel.

Mr Hale said: “Talks took place earlier in the year about trying to get an observation wheel in Loughborough but unfortunately none were available. We decided to secure a Ferris wheel as an alternative.

“We were very careful in our Get into Loughborough Christmas brochure, which went to 45,000 households, to make it clear that it was a ferris wheel, but we did say it would be huge and some people were misled. We are sorry about that.

“However, there were thousands of people in Market Place on Sunday for the lights switch on and hundreds of them took a ride on the wheel.”

David Pagett-Wright, new BID/Love Loughborough chair, added: “We are sorry some people were disappointed and were expecting an observation wheel, but we did promote it as a Ferris wheel, and with a standard ticket price of just £2 we feel it is good value for money.

“The Ferris wheel adds atmosphere to the Market Place in the lead up to Christmas and complements the 14-day Christmas Market.”